The Indian biometrics market is expected to grow steadily over the coming years as several verticals realize the relevance of the technology and adopt it. The market is not without its challenges, but for those companies that can understand the unique requirements here, India offers plenty of opportunities. a&s Asia
The Indian biometrics market is expected to grow steadily over the coming years as several verticals realize the relevance of the technology and adopt it. The market is not without its challenges, but for those companies that can understand the unique requirements here, India offers plenty of opportunities.
a&s Asia recently interviewed Sujan Parthasaradhi, Director of Biometric Applications in APAC, Biometrics at HID Global, to get his views on the biometrics market in the subcontinent.
a&s: How do you see the biometric market in Asia, and particularly in India? Any growth estimates in India compared to other countries in Asia?
Parthasaradhi:The Biometric market in Asia is growing much faster than any part of the world. India is one of the leading markets for biometric authentication in banking, time and attendance, and physical access control.
a&s: What are the factors that are driving demand in India? Why? How's the demand in terms of govt. vs private sector?
Parthasaradhi: The Aadhaar project is the largest biometric program in the world and as such is a huge driver of the adoption of biometrics in India. There are many opportunities to leverage Aadhaar wherever proof of identity is required, both within the government and in the commercial space. The demand is growing continuously in both sectors.
There is an increased awareness of biometrics and the benefits that can be gained by knowing for certain who is transacting. Biometrics effectively binds an individual to a credential and can therefore be used effectively to eliminate ID theft and fraud in transactions such as banking transactions. When implemented as part of a carefully designed solution, biometrics also can be the most convenient method of user authentication.
Fraud in government benefit disbursement is being addressed successfully with the adoption of biometric authentication. Various government programs are being linked with Aadhaar and require biometric authentication of citizens using fingerprint (mostly) or iris. While government programs are often standards driven when implementing a particular biometric solution for identity verification, the private sector tends to be more performance driven.
a&s: What are the obstacles that might hinder the development of biometrics in India? How does the government, or the solution providers like you, try to make the end users feel secure when using it?
Parthasaradhi: The biggest obstacle to the successful implementation of a biometrics solution is a lack of understanding about the impact of upfront purchasing choices on the total cost of ownership (TCO). If a significant percentage of the intended user population cannot successfully use the chosen biometric technology or if the reader itself is not durable enough to stand up to the expected throughput (for two examples), biometric performance is negatively impacted and the total cost of the solution over time climbs sharply.
We always recommend scenario testing to avoid this unfortunate outcome. Sometimes the best way to control costs is to have a thorough understanding of system requirements — an understanding that is best arrived at by testing a proposed solution in the application environment. The Frost & Sullivan "Best Practices Guide to Fingerprint Biometrics" paper on this subject is a worthwhile read, even if biometric modalities other than fingerprint are being considered.
a&s: What are the verticals that are seeing strong demand for biometrics, in general? Why?
Parthasaradhi: There are many verticals seeing a strong demand for biometrics in India, including banking, government (especially public distribution), and healthcare. Time and attendance and physical access control applications are always a good fit for biometrics.
In banking, biometrics is often the best solution because only biometrics can bind a credential — and its associated rights and privileges — to a specific individual. Fraud reduction is a serious concern for financial institutions, with unattended transactions being the ones facing the highest potential for abuse. In addition, user expectations have become more demanding and convenience is an important consideration. Note that many banks also administer social benefit programs. In every case, the bank needs to know who is actually present for the transaction rather than who has the card or knows account details.
a&s: What are the kinds of biometric technologies popular in different verticals?
Parthasaradhi: Fingerprint dominates and is present in all the verticals. This modality is often the first choice for several reasons including interoperability, existence of legacy databases, ease of use, and user acceptance. Iris data is collected during Aadhaar enrollment and its use for verification is picking up in some government programs. With the uptick in the use of mobile devices for user authentication in the commercial space, especially for banking applications, voice recognition and "selfie passwords" (facial recognition) are becoming prevalent.
a&s: What is unique about your solution, and how does it fit the biometrics growth in India?
Parthasaradhi: HID Global offers the best-performing fingerprint sensors available in the market today. Our Lumidigm® solutions bring multispectral imaging technology to any identity application where it is important to know “who” is transacting. Lumidigm fingerprint sensors are used to authenticate bank customers at ATMs, secure busy international borders, prevent ticket fraud at entertainment facilities, and ensure public goods and services reach the intended recipients. The company's flagship V-Series fingerprint sensors include the industry's best liveness detection capability, ensuring that the authorized person is actually present.
Also available is the V-Series V4xx, optimized for authenticating financial transactions with data encryption, tamper detection/response, and key management for trusted user authentication. Designed to simplify transactions for users while eliminating fraud for financial institutions, the V4xx provides convenient and reliable biometric authentication in solutions requiring end-to-end transaction security.